Et Al. in APA: Complete Rules for In-Text Citations (7th Edition)
Use et al. correctly the first time. This guide covers the APA 7th edition rule for 3 or more authors, when full names still matter, and how to avoid ambiguous citations.
Quick Rules
The shortest version of this page.
What does et al. mean?
Et al. is short for a Latin phrase meaning "and others." In APA style, it shortens a long author list inside the in-text citation so the sentence stays readable.
The shortened citation still points to the full author list in the reference entry.
APA 7th edition et al. rules
3+ authors: use et al. from the first citation
Parenthetical: (Garcia et al., 2024)
Narrative: Garcia et al. (2024)
1 to 2 authors: spell out every time
One author: (Garcia, 2024)
Two authors: (Garcia & Patel, 2024)
If you also need sentence-level formatting help, compare the parenthetical vs narrative guide.
APA 7th vs 6th edition: what changed
APA 6th edition waited longer before switching to et al. APA 7th edition simplified that rule: three or more authors now use et al. immediately.
| Case | Parenthetical | Narrative | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| APA 7th | (Taylor et al., 2024) | Taylor et al. (2024) | Three or more authors shorten from the first citation. |
| APA 6th | (Taylor, Lee, & Kim, 2024) | Taylor, Lee, and Kim (2024) | Older examples may spell out more names on the first citation. |
How to disambiguate identical et al. citations
If two sources collapse into the same shortened citation, add more surnames until the reader can tell them apart.
Same first author + same year
(Nguyen, Patel, et al., 2022) vs (Nguyen, Roberts, et al., 2022)
Expand both citations until the two works are distinct.
Same first author + different years
(Nguyen et al., 2021) vs (Nguyen et al., 2024)
Different years already separate the two sources.
Et al. formatting checklist
Keep this short checklist in mind before you submit the paper.
- Use a period after al., not after et.
- Do not italicize et al. in normal APA prose.
- Use et al. in the in-text citation, not the reference entry.
- Reference entries still follow the full multiple-author reference rules.
Use the APA reference list guide when you need the full author formatting pattern.
FAQ
Answers to the common APA edge cases
Related Guides
Follow the connected APA guides below to move from rule lookup to final citation.
Parenthetical vs Narrative Citations
See the difference between ampersands, narrative prose, and direct-quote placement.
How to Format the APA Reference List
Reference-list rules for 2 to 20 authors, 21+ authors, alphabetizing, and punctuation.
Free APA Citation Generator
Generate in-text citations and reference entries for websites, books, and journals.